October 2014 in the Southern Hemisphere

[Jupiter]

Wow, what a gorgeous little thing Maggi. I've done some looking up of Patagonian flora and I would love to get there some day... who knows if I'll make it...

[Maggi Young]

A site about the Argentinian flora...Instituto de Botanica Darwinion : http://www2.darwin.edu.ar/ 

[Hoy]

Adding another of Alejandra's photos to delight  us all .....

(Attachment Link)

This is really a top quality plant, isn't it? 

Yes, but I think it is very difficult to cultivate in a garden. It grows in deep loose rocky sand in screes. The flowers and leaves it on long thich stems which are hidden in the sand!

[Maggi Young]

Jamus, it is a truly glorious plant.  We grew it from seed for some years - no sign of a flower and eventually it passed away - mourning, I think, for it's mountain home.

Lesley in New Zealand grew hers for wearing on for two decades, if I remember correctly - again , never a flower and she too lost it in the end.    She wrote in 2012 : "R. semiverticillatus   has died. It became very overgrown last summer, 2011, then died down but has not come through again this year. From germination in, as I remember, 1992, it never flowered even once...."


Such is its beauty that we were prepared to struggle on in  hope on that the tight, broccoli-like foliage would one day reward our patience with a flower.  Never happened. 

I think it is one of those  fabulous plants which is never really happy away from the mountains and  those, like Trond, who have been fortunate to see it in its habitat are lucky indeed.

 See this thread for some more on this lovely plant : http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=487.0

And see this message for a photo of the plant in seed - still glorious!  http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=11773.msg305610#msg305610

[Lesley Cox]

Thanks for these pictures Maggi. Yes, I was safely sitting down. I always intended with mine to lift it and put it in a big pot in the refrigerator over winter as I'm sure my climate was never half cold enough for it. After the initial breakthrough following winter, the tight foliage always became longer and looser quite quickly and if it ever HAD flowered, it would probably have been out of character because of that. But of course if I had lifted it, it would have most likely died due to the disturbance of its long, leathery and elastic root system. I therefore didn't have the trauma - for it and me - of having to relocate it when we moved in February last year. (Gosh, was it so long ago? Seems like last week sometimes!)

Our native R. haastii has the same kind of root system and oddly, because its scree home continually moves downwards with wind, snow and ice melt, the roots which continue to cling to the under material, are frequently higher up the hill than the plant itself.

I remember in one of the SRGC Journals, the Stones, when they were at Askival, had a photo of the plant in flower but even with their skills, though the foliage was still tight, the flower head was somewhat etoliated. Just one of those plants for us to worship but maybe never grow perfectly. (You can get off your knees now Cliff. )

[Lesley Cox]

Fantastic pictures David, looks like a dead sheep is just the thing when planting clematis! Hard to come by around here but I suppose I could try a road kill kangaroo...?   

My mother was a great believer in the efficacy of a dead cat planted under a passion vine. Certainly when we lived in Timaru we had magnificent passion fruit.

I have a dead rabbit waiting to become Marley's dinner tonight. Wonder how it would go under the fig tree I'm just about to plant. Probably M would dig it up and the young fig with it.

[David Nicholson]

I remember.........the Stones, when they were at Askival, .........

Didn't know they'd played there   I've a feeling that one is going to pass Lesley by

My mother was a great believer in the efficacy of a dead cat planted under a passion vine.

A Lady of great taste if I may say so..................................................................... ....................................sorry Maggi, couldn't resist it

[Maggi Young]

I remember in one of the SRGC Journals, the Stones, when they were at Askival, had a photo of the plant in flower but even with their skills, though the foliage was still tight, the flower head was somewhat etoliated. Just one of those plants for us to worship but maybe never grow perfectly. (You can get off your knees now Cliff. )

In this Journal -  http://files.srgc.net/journals/vol_1%20to_113/94.pdf - on page ten you can read what the Stones say about their plant and the photo is on page 14.

 Photo of the plant from the RBGE on page 292 of this Journal : http://files.srgc.net/journals/vol_1%20to_113/84.pdf

[Lesley Cox]

Didn't know they'd played there   I've a feeling that one is going to pass Lesley by

Even I have heard of the Rolling Stones David. Not that I ever would have let their "music" come near my ears.

Yes, my late Ma was a lady of great taste, but I don't recall that the flavour of dead cat ever seeped upwards into the passion fruit.

I complain about our chooks and the local rabbits but today I visited a local bearded iris nursery to have its owner show the marks of a marauding calf and likewise, of a wild boar!. Maybe I'm let off lightly. On the other hand, she is able to see spoonbills and other lovely birds on the swamp and river estuary below her house.

[Jupiter]

The bearded irises are in full swing now here, this one is my favourite

Iris cv. Lady friend




Iris graminea put on a good show but I didn't think to photograph it until today, almost too late.




Small but beautiful, Dianthus pinnifolius



Dianthus-pinnifolius by J_Stonor, on Flickr

[Robert]

I complain about our chooks and the local rabbits but today I visited a local bearded iris nursery to have its owner show the marks of a marauding calf and likewise, of a wild boar!. Maybe I'm let off lightly. On the other hand, she is able to see spoonbills and other lovely birds on the swamp and river estuary below her house.

Lesley,

Wild boars! This sounds very dangerous to me! It does sound like you are getting off lightly. I know that I never want to meet up with a wild boar - ever. The spoonbills and other wild birds must be beautiful to watch. The owners of the Iris nursery are very fortunate in this regard.

It is seems that almost everyone has to deal with some sort of roaming pest(s). I like bears but feel fortunate that I do not have to deal with them in the garden or farm.

[johnralphcarpenter]

We`'re lucky here - only foxes, who crap everywhere.

[Tim Ingram]

I must say it would be something else having bears around! I think I could live with that with the mountains and forests that go with them  . I have to show these wild boar that I met in February taking the dog for a walk. Certainly wouldn't be happy with them coming into the garden but the mother seemed friendly enough enough even when faced with an inquisitive Jack Russell! Still no clear idea of where they came from as we have no proper woodland anywhere near us, so maybe they are residents of one of the nearby farms?

[Jupiter]

Linum grandiflorum 'Bright Eyes'




Calochortus superbus




Aquilegia (unknown sp.)




Iris cv. 'Chinese Empress'




Heracleum mantegazzianum

[David Nicholson]

Brilliant pictures Jamus